by Michael Snyder, TheMostImportantNews.com<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Are you prepared for the nationwide shutdown that is happening now to last for the next 18 months?\u00a0 You may not believe that such a thing will happen, but the federal government apparently does.\u00a0 A 100 page government plan\u00a0marked \u201cFor Official Use Only \/\/ Not For Public Distribution or Release\u201d was obtained by the New York Times, and it paints a very bleak picture of what is coming.<\/p>\n
If the projections in this document are anywhere close to accurate, large numbers of Americans\u00a0will die<\/a>, the U.S. economy will completely implode, and we will see widespread civil unrest.\u00a0 So let us pray that the assessments in this government plan turn out to be dead wrong.<\/p>\n According to the document, this coronavirus pandemic\u00a0\u201cwill last 18 months or longer\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n A federal government plan to combat\u00a0the coronavirus<\/a>\u00a0warned policymakers last week that a pandemic \u201cwill last 18 months or longer\u201d and could include \u201cmultiple waves,\u201d resulting in widespread shortages that would strain consumers and the nation\u2019s health care system.<\/i><\/p>\n I can\u2019t even imagine what our country would look like if current conditions stretched into the middle of 2021.<\/p>\n As a nation, I don\u2019t believe that we would be able to handle it.<\/p>\n The document also envisions that there will be\u00a0\u201ccritical shortages\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cShortages of products may occur, impacting health care, emergency services, and other elements of critical infrastructure,\u201d the plan warned. \u201cThis includes potentially critical shortages of diagnostics, medical supplies (including PPE and pharmaceuticals), and staffing in some locations.\u201d P.P.E. refers to personal protective equipment.<\/i><\/p>\n Of course there are already shortages\u00a0of some drugs<\/a>\u00a0and of many basic consumer products\u00a0such as toilet paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sadly, things could soon get much worse.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the overall economy continues to collapse at a staggering pace.\u00a0 A former economic adviser to President Trump is now warning us that the U.S. economy could lose up to a million jobs\u00a0this month alone<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Kevin Hassett, who served as a top economic adviser to President Trump until last summer, said Monday that the United States economy could shed as many as one million jobs in March alone because of layoffs and hiring freezes related to the coronavirus.<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cIf you have normal job disruption, and hiring just stops,\u201d Mr. Hassett said, \u201cyou\u2019ll have the worst jobs number ever.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n But if this pandemic continues to escalate, a million jobs lost will just be a drop in the bucket.<\/p>\n In fact, the National Restaurant Association is now projecting that their industry will lose\u00a0\u201cbetween five and seven million jobs\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n The National Restaurant Association is\u00a0predicting the unprecedented carnage<\/a>\u00a0is only just beginning, on Wednesday writing a letter to the White House and Congress detailing an estimated\u00a0$225 billion in sales will be wiped out over the next three months, crucially prompting the\u00a0loss of\u00a0between five and seven million jobs.<\/i><\/p>\n Remember, that is just one industry.<\/p>\n The retail industry is also being completely devastated as well, and we just learned that the largest operator of shopping malls in the United States\u00a0is shutting them all down<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Simon Property Group, the largest owner of shopping malls in the nation, is closing all of its malls and retail properties because of the coronavirus outbreak.<\/i><\/p>\n Of course they won\u2019t actually open back up on March 29th if this pandemic continues to get worse.<\/p>\n So far, COVID-19 has killed less than 200 Americans.<\/p>\n If our society is being this disrupted now, what will things be like if the death toll becomes 1,000 times larger?<\/p>\n For years, I have warned that our economy was extremely vulnerable, and now that is becoming exceedingly obvious to everyone.\u00a0 It certainly didn\u2019t take too much of a push to burst all the bubbles and send everyone into a severe panic, and now the economy is collapsing at a pace that is absolutely breathtaking.<\/p>\n According to\u00a0NBC News<\/a>, state unemployment websites all over the nation are crashing because so many people are suddenly applying for unemployment benefits\u2026<\/p>\n Workers who have suddenly found themselves without a paycheck because of the growing coronavirus pandemic in the United States are now dealing with another frustration \u2014 state unemployment websites crashing because of high traffic.<\/i><\/p>\n Tomorrow morning most Americans will wake up assuming that their jobs are safe.\u00a0 But right now an increasing number of people are being let go without any advance warning whatsoever.\u00a0 Here is\u00a0one example<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Eileen Hanley was wrapping up her weekend and getting ready for the week ahead on Sunday evening when an email popped up in her inbox with the subject line \u201cCOVID-19 uncertainty.\u201d It was from her boss at the small Manhattan law firm where she worked part time as a receptionist.<\/i><\/p>\n We have never seen anything like this before.<\/p>\n Things were tough during World War II, but it was actually a time when the country geared up and worked extremely hard to defeat the enemy.<\/p>\n But now economic activity all over America is being brought to a screeching halt.\u00a0 In fact, we just learned that the three largest automakers\u00a0have have shut down all of their U.S. factories<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Detroit\u2019s Big Three automakers plan to temporarily close all U.S. factories as the coronavirus sweeps across the country.<\/i><\/p>\n As a nation, we would survive a 30 day shutdown.<\/p>\n But if life doesn\u2019t get back to normal for \u201c18 months\u201d, we are going to witness a societal meltdown of epic proportions.<\/p>\n
\n<\/i>The 100-page plan,<\/a>\u00a0dated Friday, the same day President Trump declared a national emergency, laid out a grim prognosis for the spread of the virus and outlined a response that would activate agencies across the government and potentially employ special presidential powers to mobilize the private sector.<\/i><\/p>\n
\n<\/i>The closings start at 7 p.m. local time Wednesday and the malls are expected to end March 29, the Indianapolis-based company said in a\u00a0news release<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n
\n<\/i>From Oregon to New York and Washington, D.C., officials and Twitter users have highlighted the problem after the mass closing of restaurants, retail stores and other businesses as part of the effort to slow the spread of the virus.<\/i><\/p>\n
\n<\/i>\u201cWe hope you are feeling well during this time,\u201d the email began. Then it cut to the chase: The firm was losing revenue because of the outbreak, and it would have to eliminate \u201ca number of positions,\u201d including hers, \u201ceffective immediately.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\n<\/i>The companies bowed to pressure from union leaders and employees who called for protection from the pandemic that\u2019s spread to more than 212,000 people in nearly every country across the globe.<\/i><\/p>\n